Preston Niayesh made his first
appearance at a National meet by traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina
to compete at the 2018 Winter National Championships in
both the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events over the last weekend of
November. The 2018 Winter Nationals is the first opportunity for
swimmers across the nation to achieve an Olympic Trial time
standard since the posting of the new cuts just months prior. This is
the primary reason the meet is conducted long course, opposed to the
traditional short course arrangement. Preston finished
35th in the 200 meter breaststroke, swimming a time of 2:25.99, and finished 46th in the 100 breaststroke after swimming a time of 1:06.59 there.
Five of our 61 TNT swimmers who competed at the Dowain Wright
Memorial meet hosted by Fresno Dolphins over the November 17-18 weekend
outperformed all other swimmers in their respective age and
gender division, thereby earning the high point recognition.
Tuning up for the Winter Age Group Championships, Porterville’s Regan Hildreth
swept all eight events that she competed in for the 7-8 girls division,
winning the
100 free, 50 breast, 50 fly, 200 IM, 100 breasts, 50 free, 100 fly and
50 backstroke events. Regan improved well over 11 seconds in the 200 IM,
and was one of only two TNT swimmers to remain
undefeated, but the only undefeated swimmer with a full schedule of
events.
Porterville’s counterpart, nine year old Nathan Boudreaux
took home the high point for the 9-10 boys division, while competing at
the bottom of the age division,
outscoring the 10-year old runner up by seven points. Nathan was the
winner of the 50 breast, and 100 breaststroke events, and came in second
for the 50 back and 100 IM. He was a top-8 finisher in
all events.
Also tuning up for the Winter Age Group Championships was Selma’s William Butts,
who at age 12 was the high point recipient for the 11-12 boys division.
William
finished top-3 in all eight of his events, taking home the gold in the
50 breast, 50 fly, 100 breast, and 50 backstroke events. At 88%, William
maintained one of the highest improvement rates among
any of our swimmers who competed at the meet.
William’s counterpart in Selma, Daniel Haley,
competed in only six events within the 13-14 division, but finishing
among the top 3 in all of his events, managed to
outscore all other 13-14 boys who competed at the meet by at least six
points to take home the high point for the division. Daniel was the
event champion for the 400 IM, and the 500 freestyle events.
He place 3rd in all other events.
Visalia’s Layla Flores was the high
point recipient for the 13-14 girls division, competing in her last meet
as a 14-year old. One of our top age group swimmers
who has already made inroads into meets on our senior circuit, Layla won
the 100 fly, 400 IM and 200 IM events while at the Fresno meet, then
placed 2nd in both the 100 free and 50 free,
and finally 3rd in the 500 free – placing top 3 in all events she competed in.
Eleven TNT swimmers
competed at the 2018 Keven Perry Senior Meet hosted by La Mirada over
the first weekend of November, with intent of achieving, or improving
upon, Winter Junior National, or
Winter National time standards at a meet that offers a trial and finals
format. Three of our swimmers earned second swims, and each of the three
did so in two different events, and all three will be
competing at the Winter Junior National Championships in Austin, Texas
in December.
Our highest finish was the 5th place in the 200 breaststroke by Preston Niayesh,
who will be attending the Winter National meet the following month.
Preston posted a lifetime best of 2:05.40 in the event, improving his
team record of 2:06.99 set the previous year at the same meet, and
posting the 95th fastest time in the nation for
boys at age 17. Preston had the two highest finishes for the team, following his 5th place with a 6th
place finish in the 100 breaststroke after swimming a lifetime best of
56.68 in the preliminary heats, and also improving upon his previous
team record of 58.23 set the previous year, at the same meet. His 100
breaststroke stands as the 59th fastest
nationally.
JD Koster was our only other championship finalist, and he did this in his signature event, 200 butterfly, placing 8th after posting a time of 1:51.07
in the preliminary heats. His other final was a consolation finish of 21st in the 200 IM after posting a lifetime best of 1:55.06 in the preliminary heats, and breaking Chris Nolan’s
previous team record of 1:55.55 that was set in a time trial event at Winter Juniors in 2013. His new record stands as the 229th ranked time nationally for boys at age 17.
Our remaining finalist was Garrison Price, and he had his two swims in the consolation heat, finishing 12th in the 100 fly with a lifetime best of
50.56, and then doubling up his lifetime best swims in the 200 fly with a time of 1:51.99, and a 13th place finish there. Garrison improved both events during prelims, and then again in
finals, and will be making his first trip to Junior Nationals this winter.
The only other team records were set in the 13-14 boys division by Bryan Wong
who competed in four events, and improved all four, setting a team
record in three of
them. He began his meet by posting a time of 4:46.81 in the 500 free,
going well under Nathan Rhea’s 4:51.20 set at Sectionals nine years
earlier. Bryan’s new record stands as the 56th
fastest nationally for boys at age 14. His next record was an
improvement of his own 100 breaststroke, where his 1:01.10 went under
his 1:02.00 set earlier in the month in Fresno. His improvement
stands as the 83rd ranked swim nationally for boys at the same age. His final record came in the 200 breaststroke, where he posted the 61st fastest time nationally of 2:12.50,
sliding just under Nathan Rhea’s 2:12.81 set at Sectionals in 2009. Bryan’s highest finish was 44th in the 400 IM (4:13.51).
Danielle Albright had her highest finish as 26th in the 400 IM, just missing a second swim in the event, while Janessa
Bringe’s top finish was 44th in the 1000 free timed final. Peyton Costa was one of only three swimmers to improve all his events, and his highest
finish was 113th in the 500 free. Fourteen year old Layla Flores had her highest finish at 58th in the 400 IM, while her training partner from
Visalia, Megan Ridenour, finished 47th in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Alex Roberts touched 37th
in the 200 back, while Bryce Wong finished 48th in the 200 fly.
Forty-six TNT
swimmers traveled to Merced City College over the third weekend of
October for their Halloween meet, and one team record resulted from the
weekend’s efforts. Fourteen-year old
Bryan Wong competed in only two events
on Saturday, but posted a time of 1:49.68 in the 200 yard freestyle,
just squeezing under the previous record of 1:49.71 held
by Nathan Rhea, and set nine years earlier at the Winter Sectional meet
in 2009. Bryan’s new team record currently stands as the 68th fastest nationally for boys at age 14. Bryan was
undefeated for the day, winning both the 200 and 100 freestyle events.
Other undefeated TNT swimmers were led by Regan Hildreth, who at age 8, swept eight events over the two days, winning the 25, 50 & 200 free, the 25 & 50
breast, 50 back, 50 fly and 100 IM events for the 7-8 age division. Next in line was five year old Zach Walker, who won the 6-under 50 free, 25 free and 25 backstroke
events. Joining Bryan in being undefeated in two events was Bryce Wong who won both of his events (100 & 200 free in the 15-over age division). Additional event
winners included: Ella Bettencourt (200 breast), Nathan Boudreaux (100 breast), Layla Flores (50
free, 100 breast & 200 IM), Preston Niayesh (100 breast, 100 fly & 200 IM), Megan Ridenour (100 breast & 200 IM), and
Alexa Wong (50 fly).
Logan HIldreth and Noah Hoy were our only two swimmers who improved 100% of their times at the meet.
Of the 31 TNT
swimmers who competed at the Yosemite meet in the first weekend of
October, seven came away as event champions, and of those seven, two
remain undefeated at the meet. Eight year old
Regan Hildreth won all three events she scored in, and they included the 50 free, 50 back, and 100 IM, while five year old Zachariah
Walker won all three of his 6-under events, that included the 25
free, 50 free, and 25 backstroke events. Five additional swimmers came
home with gold, and these included Drew Black (winning the 11-12 100 fly), William Butts (winning the 11-12 100 breast), Isaak Ensz (7-8 50 back),
Dylan Hunt (15-18 100 breast), and Ava Olson (13-14 100 breast).
Eight TNT swimmers maintained a 100% improvement rate. Congratulations to a perfect meet go to: William Butts, Danielle Hager, Daniel Haley, Regan Hildreth, Isla Jay,
Clara Shinn, Liam Shinn, and Nicholas Vassylenko.
